SARAJEVO, Sept 19 (Hina) - The United States Administration has not formally requested that Bosnia-Herzegovina to join the anti-terrorist alliance, but Bosnian authorities offered all the necessary cooperation in the aftermath of last
Tuesday's attacks in New York and Washington, a spokesman for Bosnian Foreign Ministry told Hina on Wednesday.
SARAJEVO, Sept 19 (Hina) - The United States Administration has not
formally requested that Bosnia-Herzegovina to join the anti-
terrorist alliance, but Bosnian authorities offered all the
necessary cooperation in the aftermath of last Tuesday's attacks in
New York and Washington, a spokesman for Bosnian Foreign Ministry
told Hina on Wednesday.#L#
"We alone have offered our full cooperation," the spokesman, Amer
Kapetanovic, said, commenting on Washington's diplomatic
activities aimed at gathering a broad support for the fight against
terrorism.
This matter was discussed during talks between Bosnian authorities
and a State Department official, Janet Bogue, who visited Sarajevo
last week. However, no list of homework assignments was given to
Sarajevo, even though the U.S. official relayed Washington's wish
for cooperation in this important struggle against terrorism.
A member of Bosnia's collective Presidency, Beriz Belkic, has said
his country "will absolutely join the international anti-terrorist
coalition.
"Regardless of our modest abilities, we shall provide safety for
all our citizens and, if necessary, take part in joint actions in
the future," Belkic was quoted as saying by a Banjaluka-based
newspaper "Nezavisne Novine".
Police control has been tightened throughout Bosnia. The state
border administration (DGS) and police in the two entities are on
red alert. The control of airports in Sarajevo, Banja Luka and
Mostar, has been increased as well.
The purpose of such measures is to protect the American and
international institutions in Bosnia, as well as to prevent
undesirable migrants from entering the country illegally.
The Television of Bosnia-Herzegovina reported Tuesday that
Sarajevo had received a list of names of 18 perpetrators of the
attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. According
to some claims, the list has been forwarded from Washington to
another 30 countries asked to check all available information
pertaining to the attackers.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Kapetanovic categorically denied such a
list had been sent to Sarajevo and asserted that no specific demand
had been forwarded.
He said the terrorist attacks in the United States had perhaps led
to the creation of an unusual situation in Bosnia for the first time
since the conclusion of the Dayton peace accords. The authorities
of both entities - the Bosnian Serb republic and the Croat-Muslim
federation - fully agree on all that should be done now, he
explained.
Sarajevo in particular is disturbed by frequent media speculation
on the alleged Bosnian connections of the terrorist attacks' prime
suspect, Osama bin Laden.
Local media have quoted certain persons, presented as British and
American terrorism experts, who claim that bin Laden's Al Quaida
has a well-developed network in Bosnia and Kosovo.
According to the Bosnian Foreign Ministry, such claims are absurd,
given that the entire territory of Bosnia is covered by foreign
intelligence services, and that 20,000 NATO-led international
troops are being deployed as the Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in this
country. Under such circumstances, it would be impossible for
terrorists to imperceptibly make preparations for their attacks.
The efforts of Bosnia's government - the Council of Ministers - are
now being aimed at two concrete tasks: to establish the identities
of people from Islamic countries who have been given Bosnia's
citizenship, and the circumstances under which the citizenship has
been granted.
According to available data, 11,000 persons received Bosnian
citizenship during the 1992-1995 war, and only 420 had origins in
the Islamic world. A lot of the 11,000 had lived, studied and worked
in Bosnia before the war.
Minister in charge of civilian affairs and communications,
Svetozar Mihajlovic, clearly refuted allegations that bin Laden
carried a Bosnian passport.
"Those are groundless rumours," Mihajlovic said after a session on
the status of naturalised Bosnians of Islamic descent.
According to the check-ups so far conducted by the relevant
authorities, only three persons, who have received the Bosnian
citizenship since 1992, have been involved in crime. One of those
cases referred to terrorism, whereas the other two persons
committed 'common' offences.
Minister Mihajlovic has not ruled out a possibility that further
inspection may find additional naturalised Bosnians with criminal
records, but added that Sarajevo will continue to fully cooperate
with Interpol and police of countries where those persons are
wanted.
(hina) ms